Hong Kong  - Police in Hong Kong are increasing the number of marine patrols after a spate of incidents involving South Asians who were caught as they were being smuggled into the territory, officers said Monday.

Police small boat unit superintendent John Cameron said 18 people from India and Pakistan were arrested after the boats they were in were intercepted by marine police on Saturday and Sunday.

Two men from India and eight Pakistanis were held after an 8-metre wooden sampan was captured by officers in the territory's western waters near Tuen Mun on Sunday. The boat's master from China was arrested.

The incident came less than 48 hours after eight Pakistanis were seized when the boat they were in was stopped in Hong Kong's eastern waters near Tai Po on Saturday morning.

On Friday, 13 Pakistani illegal immigrants were arrested after their boat was stopped by marine police near the north-west New Territories.

Police said the 10 men held on Sunday each paid 5,000 Yuan (735 dollars) to be smuggled into Hong Kong from China.

Marine police Senior Inspector Yip Kwong-choi said the sampan was only designed to carry four passengers and none of the men had been given life jackets.

Officers thought the South Asians that had been arrested aimed to seek political asylum.

They said smuggling syndicates, known as snakeheads, had stepped up their illicit activities following a court ruling in March which allowed asylum seekers to work while immigration officials decided whether they were entitled to asylum. (dpa)